TMNT: THe Beast of New York
by kiyohunter
Summary: A boy finds himself caged in a strange place, not knowing who or what he is, surrounded by odd turtle creatures. Do they hold the secrets of his identity? Are they friends? Or foes? Part of a old fic I wrote. Beta chapter/One shot.


TMNT

The Beast of New York

"Caged"

The boy awoke in a rather smelly dungeon. It ranked with the smell of rotting food and skunk. He attempted to stand up, but yelped when his head hit something with a soft _clunk_. Rubbing his sore head, he noticed he was in a small box. With more focus, he saw that the box was lined with metal bars and equipped with a huge heavy lock, giving him only enough space to sit. He then realized with sudden clarity the "box" was in fact a cage! Panic seized him and he tried in vain to free himself. Savage blows rained down on the lock as his fists pounded against it, but quickly he saw his efforts were of no use. The boy gave a disgruntled snort and sat down, contenting himself by observing his surroundings.

Beyond the cage, a thick darkness surrounded him. All around the cage was pitch black but his eyes were able to make out some parts of the room. Muddy brown water ran along the walls and around the room like streams, gushing out of large pipes. The water was filled with filth and other things he did not want to know. The floor was extremely grimy and some spots had piles of sludge that had collected from the water.

He wondered why he would be in such a dirty place. Was it his home? If so, why was he locked up? He couldn't remember. In fact, he couldn't remember anything. Not even his name. He sat staring into the distance, hugging his legs to his chest, when suddenly a shadow moved. Immediately he was alert, an old instinct to fight washing over him. The boy uttered a low, fierce growl and crouched down low on all fours in an attack position. The shadow moved again and, from within the darkness, a pair of white eyes stared at him.

"How are you doing there?"

The eyes and voice belonged to a giant green creature. As it stepped into the dim light around the cage, the boy could see its skin was rough looking, and a purple cloth was wrapped around its eyes. Peering through holes cut in the cloth, the eyes held no emotion whatsoever. A pale-green shell protected its back. It appeared to be a mutant turtle. Sitting up straight again, the boy huddled in the corner of the cage, as far away from the creature as he could. He didn't know what power the mutant held. It was best to avoid it - or appease it – if possible. Shaky with fear and caution, he replied back.

"I'm fine."

The mutant seemed delighted and surprised at the answer. It crouched down on one knee and shined a light into the cage. The boy raised his hands to shield his face from the bright light. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Hands. He had just now become aware that he had hands. Looking down at them, he noticed that five fingers were attached to each one, unlike the mutant, who only had three. He waved his arms back and forth, wiggling his fingers. The sensation felt odd to him, as if he had never had hands before. Human hands at least. It was a few seconds before he became aware that the mutant was watching him with unending interest. A broad smile was on its face. It was studying him. The boy quickly put his hands down in embarrassment.

"You're really weird," the mutant said. "Who are you? No. _What_are you?" Its voice was filled with uncertainty. It was afraid of him. The boy could smell it. A voice called out from afar, deep and raspy. It seemed to echo all around.

"I don't think it will hurt you anymore, Donatello. It seems to have calmed down."

The voice gave the mutant called Donatello confidence and its fear ebbed away. Curious as to why, the boy peeked around behind it. Light emanated from a section of the wall across the room. He saw, sitting on couches, three other mutant turtles, each with a colored headband, watching silently. One with an orange headband was eating a triangular piece of food greedily. Melted cheese dripped from the piece of food into the turtle's mouth. It licked its "lips" with relish. Next to it, a turtle with a red headband was polishing something in its hands. A scowl was on its face as it did so. It gave its companions a fleeting glance before returning to its work. To the far left, a more calm-minded looking turtle with a blue headband merely watched the boy. Its face held no fascination like the purple one, but instead showed uneasiness as if it expected him to attack at any second. Across from them sat a giant rat. It wore a red vest and appeared to be meditating. A stick lay on the floor in front of it. Turning his attention back to Donatello, the boy stared at the mutant, unblinking, and it gazed back. A warm smile was on its face. The boy backed further away, shrinking in fear of its emotionless eyes.

"Are you…frightened of me?" it asked. When the boy said nothing, it cocked its head to one side, a look of wonder on its face. Reaching out into the cage, it said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy uttered a low menacing growl, distrustful of the mutant. He now knew that it was the one who put him in the cage and locked him in this strange, dirty room. From the couch, the red mutant spoke.

"I don't think you should do that, Don," it said warningly. "That thing is dangerous. It's gonna bite your hand."

"He, not it. And he won't bite me," Donatello replied. The red one glared at Donatello and stood up. It holstered its weapon, a three-pronged dagger like object, and walked over to the boy, its cold eyes full of hate. Meanwhile, Donatello's hand crept closer and closer. The boy looked from one mutant to the other, wondering what to do. If he attacked the hand, the red one would probably hurt him. If he did nothing, the hand might hurt him. Then something touched his shoulder. The boy moved in a flurry of panic, biting the mutant's hand hard. Warm blood flowed into his mouth, the taste sweet and satisfying. Donatello yelled in pain and the mutants on the couch rushed to its side. The rat opened its eyes but made no move to get up. The red one growled at the boy and its hand clenched into a fist. The boy saw it approaching fast, a sharp pain sprang in his face, then nothing more.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Yeah, so this is an old fic I wrote years ago featuring the Teenage Mutant ninja turtles. I never got around to finishing it, but now I have most of the plot figured out in my head. It was giong to be a mystery with monsters and maybe some elements of horror (if I can manage that). In it, the Turtles face off against creatures not unlike themselves. A them was their struggle fitting in with humans and how a horrible event might change all that. _

_Should I turn this into a multi-chapter fic one day? Leave a comment and let me know._

_On a side note, I wonder if you can figure out what the boy is by the title. I was never very clever with titles. I borrowed the idea from an actual historical event._


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